John M. Garcia is the District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) New Mexico District Office.  Garcia is responsible for the statewide delivery of SBA programs and services to the 33 counties in the state.  He supports business owners in starting and growing their businesses, creating jobs and developing local economies throughout New Mexico. Garcia is both an experienced small business owner and public servant and has earned high acclaim for his achievements as a veteran advocate and small business champion at the city, state and national levels. As past president and owner of Garcia and Associates, a service-disabled veteran owned consulting company, he advised both public and private sector senior leaders in strategic planning, tactical marketing and business development with a special emphasis on veteran wellness and entrepreneurial development.

Eugene “Cliff” Hudson is the CEO for Emerging Technology Ventures Inc. (ETV) and manages the Autonomous and Unmanned Systems Cluster (AUSC). He has more than 32 years of experience from the Department of Defense (DoD) in acquisition and technology transition management. Mr. Hudson retired from the U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, where his duties included management of the autonomous and unmanned system technology transition activities of the Robotics Mentor Protégé Program.

Dr. Joy Colucci is the founder and CEO of Metis Technology Solutions, Inc., which she formed in 2010. Headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Metis employs 90 engineers and subject matter experts providing aeronautics and space systems development support to NASA and the US Air Force. Prior to founding Metis, Dr. Colucci held senior management positions at Hughes Applied Information Systems, Raytheon Technical Services, and Booz Allen Hamilton. As a business leader, she has been responsible for organizations of up to 500 technical staff and $60M in annual contract revenue. Metis supports several high-visibility programs, including numerous NASA spaceflight missions, modeling and simulation for aeronautics research, and satellite ground system development. The company has been recognized with over 20 NASA achievement awards, was the 2016 NASA Ames Research Center’s Subcontractor of the Year, and was ranked New Mexico’s 6^th fastest growing technology company as a 2017 New Mexico Flying 40 award winner. Joy earned BS, MS and PhD degrees in Earth System Science. She enjoys the outdoors, is an avid reader, and lives in New Mexico with her family.

David Kistin is the program lead for Sandia National Laboratories, Center for Collaboration and Commercialization (C3). Located at the Lobo Rainforest Building in the center of Albuquerque’s Innovation District, C3 serves as a “front door” to Sandia. It is designed to strengthen partnerships, technology transfer and ties to the community. C3 is part of Sandia’s Integrated Partnerships Organizations, and provides access to technology licensing information, no-cost technical assistance, economic development resources, and more.

Craig currently serves as the Program Manger for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. Craig is based out of Ft. Worth, TX and supports the other Lockheed Martin Aeronautics sites at Marietta, GA and Palmdale, CA. He has served in this position since May of 2007. Craig has 27+ years of experience at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.  He began his career in Fort Worth, TX, in 1989 as an Operations Analyst on the National Aerospace Plane (NASP) program.  During his tenure at the company, he has performed a variety of roles within the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics organization, including serving as the Deputy Lead for the F-35 Prognostic and Health Management Demonstration team during the Concept Demonstration Phase of the program.  Craig also spent two years as the Manager for Lockheed Martin’s Aeronautics Engineering Leadership Development Program (ELDP).  He also served a total of nine years in various roles on the F-35 Vehicle Design and Development team.  Prior to working on the F-35 program, he worked as a maintainability design engineer on the F-16 program and in the same capacity on various advanced development aircraft programs.  Craig earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, AR in 1987 and 1989, respectively.  He also earned his MBA in Management from the University of Dallas in 1994.

Mr. Williams is a senior technology analysts (TA) for the Air Force (AF) SBIR/STTR Commercialization Readiness Program (CRP). He has a BSEE and career span of over 33 years in broad based multi-disciplined physics, microelectronics and project management.  His TA duties include seeking out innovative viable technology solutions within the AF SBIR/STTR 3-phased program with a focus on accelerating the transition/commercialization into real-world military and commercial applications.  The CRP provides investment opportunities for candidate small businesses.

Myrriah Tomar is the Director of the Office of Science and Technology for the New Mexico Economic Development Department. Dr. Tomar oversees the Innovation Voucher Program and the NM SBIR Grant Matching Program, which to date has resulted in over $900,000 in follow-on grant funding. Prior to her role at the State of New Mexico, she worked in academic research, industry startup, and technology transfer. Myrriah received her PhD. in Molecular Biology from the University of Colorado.

Mr. Chavez is the President of the New Mexico Angels. President since 2008, he has been an angel investor since 2003. Mr. Chavez is also the Managing Director of Phase One Ventures, a start-up fund out of  Santa Fe, NM and Managing Director of New Mexico Start-Up Factory I and II. Outside of the Angels, he is the President of Tafoya and Brainerd Partners LLC, a nationwide business development consulting firm. Prior to his work in consulting, Mr. Chavez was appointed Cabinet Secretary of the Taxation and Revenue Department by by New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. During his six year tenure as Tax Secretary he also served as the President of the Federation of Taxation Administrators for one year.

Mr. Chavez received the following degrees from New Mexico State University: Master of Business Administration, Bachelor of Art in Economics and Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance.

Over the last 5 years, Russ Long served in the Air Force as a Contracting Officer in charge of procurement. Originally from a small town in Oklahoma, he graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. In 2016 he graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship. During his service, Russ worked with multiple teams of buyers with portfolios in construction, services, and commodity acquisitions. His total purchase experience is near $2 billion and includes Small Business Innovative Research contracts.

      Richard R. McNamara of RRM&A, LLC Mr. McNamara had a distinguished forty year career with the Department of Navy culminating in eight years as a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) — four years as the Deputy Program Manager for the Virginia Class Submarine and four as Executive Director PEO Submarines.  In 2008 he retired and established RRM & Associates, LLC. He has more than 22 years in senior program and executive management positions in acquisition and procurement and is a recognized leader in the Navy acquisition community. He is Level III certified in two Acquisition Professional competencies – Program Management, and Research and Systems Engineering. He has been awarded the DOD Small Business Program Manager of the Year in 2002 and holds the distinction of having managed over $1 Billion in successful Small Business Innovative Research [SBIR] transitions to the fleet. As a Legislative Fellow, he worked on Capitol Hill in the United States Senate.  

Jennifer Stewart serves as the Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) representative for Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division. As the ORTA, Jennifer Stewart acts as a broker, connecting Corona Division’s scientists and engineers with academia and industry for technology transfer. Stewart, a graduate of California Baptist University, Riverside, Calif., joined NSWC Corona’s Product Engineering Assessment Department in 2003. In December 2012, Stewart left Product Engineering Assessment Department to head up the ORTA position full time as the technology transfer officer In addition to serving as ORTA, Stewart supports community economic development efforts by serving as a liaison on behalf of NSWC Corona Division with various organizations within the Riverside County region. Jennifer presently serves on the FLC Executive Board as the Far West Regional Coordinator.

Since 2006, Dan has been instrumental in securing and performing SBIR Phase I and II grants from the NIH, NSF, and USDA for employers (inXsol) and clients.In addition to his corporate responsibilities, Dan is a proposal/plan writing workshop instructor, Coach of startup clients, and moderator of topic-specific workshops. Dan specializes in addressing: Innovation Research, Partner Search, Research/Work Plans, Strategic Alliances, Roadmaps, Finance/Forecast, and Project Evaluation.  

Dr. Bill Goodman is the founder and president of Goodman Technologies, an Albuquerque based small business that develops technologies for applications in Lasers, Space, Aerospace and Ballistic Missile Defense. They are currently developing solutions for additive manufacturing, and hold both a NASA SBIR Phase I and a DoD STTR Phase I.

Emily Novak is currently the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Coordinator for the Team Ships Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate. She advises Program Offices within Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships and Navy Sea Systems Command (SEA 21) on the practices and procedures required to maximize the use of small business innovation within their programs. Prior to this experience, Ms. Novak provided direct support to the NAVSEA Chief Technology Office (SEA 05T) evaluating and transitioning select Naval Research and Development (R&D) projects into the US Naval Fleet and shipyards.

Rick Shindell, president of Zyn Systems, is a long time SBIR and federal technology transfer advocate.  Rick has been providing support and outreach services to the SBIR/STTR community, as well as the technology transfer community through the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) for many years. In 2016, the Small Business Administration (SBA) honored Rick with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his “extraordinary contribution to the SBIR program”.  The Small Business Technology Council (SBTC) awarded Rick a Lifetime Achievement Award for SBIR Advocacy, and in 2006 the SBA presented him with a Tibbetts Award for excellence in SBIR. Rick is the editor of the SBIR Insider newsletter (sbirinsider.com) and an SBIR news and information website at SBIR.TV

After a decade of research into innovative fusion concepts at the University of Manchester (PhD), Lawrence Livermore National Lab (Postdoc), UC Berkeley Department of Nuclear Engineering (Visiting Scholar), and the University of Washington (Research Scientist), Dr. Woodruff founded WSI to help accelerate the development of economic fusion energy. Woodruff has performed work under contract to DOE, universities, national labs and to the private sector, building research devices, performing modeling and simulations primarily directed at simply-connected (hence more compact and simpler-to-engineer) fusion systems. Dr. Woodruff hosts an annual Scientific Computing Bootcamp for undergrads, introducing many of the tools in common use for High Performance Computing. Dr. Woodruff has organized national workshops in fusion energy sciences, and is a current participant in two IAEA initiatives on compact fusion neutron sources and private fusion development. Dr. Woodruff is a member of the American Physical Society and the Institute of Physics.

Shreyansh Shah is the SBIR Technology Manager for Program Executive Office Littoral Combat Ship (PEO LCS).  In this role, Shrey is responsible for the execution of the SBIR program within PEO LCS, providing guidance to program offices within the PEO, identifying capability gaps, and working with Small Businesses to identify technology and capabilities of interest to PEO LCS.  PEO LCS develops and acquires the LCS and FFG(x) class ships, unmanned maritime systems, and modular mission systems to support PEO LCS missions.  In addition to managing the SBIR program for PEO LCS, Shrey is also responsible for autonomy and unmanned surface vehicles.

Mr. Douglas L. Marker is the Technology Manager of the Navy Program Executive Office, Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS). Currently, he manages PEO IWS activities in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF), and Automatic Test and Analysis (ATA) programs.  At the NAVSEA SYSCOM level he is serving as the RIF Execution Manager. At the Joint level, he served as a Charter Member of the BMDO (now MDA) Joint Technology Board (JTB) which assisted BMDO in developing its first Master Technology Plan. Other multi-service assignments include Chairman of the Carbon Fiber Tri-Service Risk Analysis Committee, Test Engineer for Tri-Service Quick Response Effort during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, and member of the Tri-Service Chaff Committee.

  Mr. Leggett is responsible for planning and executing the outreach activities for the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) SBIR/STTR Program Office to educate and encourage small businesses to participate in the program. Mr. Leggett has been working with various Department of Defense Programs for over 15 years. He previously supported the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Space Policy as the Administrative Officer. Prior to his work in the Pentagon, Mr. Leggett served as a Test Planner on NAVSEA’s Force Advanced Warfare Technologies (FACT) and the Navy’s Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Programs. Mr. Leggett obtained his Masters of Science in Business Technologies from Marymount University in the spring of 2003 and has a Bachelor Degree in Business Writing from Christopher Newport University.  Mr. Leggett is also a certified Program Management Institute Program Management Professional.

Mr. Azoum has been the Space and Naval Warfare Command (SPAWAR) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program Manager since June 2016. Although recent to the position, Mr. Azoum has participated in the SBIR and STTR programs as an Assistant Program Manager (APM) for Science and Technology (S&T) for the Navy’s Cyber Security and Information Assurance Program Office, PMW 130, of the Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (PEO C4I) since July 2011. In his APM S&T position, he made critical, actionable contributions, including developing a technology roadmap, mentoring computer scientists and software engineers on Naval Fleet needs, and briefing senior officials on upcoming threats and trends. In times of budgetary restrictions, he forged relationships with other agencies and organizations, namely DARPA and DHS, to collaborate on shared capability gaps.

Brent Taft received a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from New Mexico State University (2008) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2009), respectively. Since graduation, he has been at the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate, where he is currently the Integrated Structural Systems Program Manager. Integrated Structural Systems is a pervasive program performing basic and applied R&D in the areas of deployed structures, thermal control systems, integrated structural sensing, and agile manufacturing.

Matthew Cooper received his M.S. in both Electrical and Aeronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and his MBA from the University of South Dakota.  He has worked as an Electrical Systems Integration Engineer for BAE Systems, as a Geoint Project Engineer at NASIC, and most recently as a Program Manager of high power novel lasers for AFRL.  His research interests include nonlinear control, digital holography, and fiber lasers.